I’m afraid we are bringing today’s Brexit excitement to an end. Thanks for following developments with us. We really appreciate your comments.

These are the must-reads about Wednesday’s Brexit news:

Heather Stewart, Daniel Boffey and Jennifer Rankin report thatTheresa May has hinted that the UK could extend the Brexit transition period to allow more time for trade talks, but dismayed leaders at a crunch Brussels summit by failing to offer any new ideas to break the impasse over the Irish border.

Theresa May signals willingness to extend transition period

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Rajeev Syal and Heather Stewart report that the Brexit withdrawal agreement must either be accepted or rejected by MPs and should not automatically be subjected to amendments, according to a letter and a memorandum released by the government.

Amendments on Brexit deal should be restricted – government

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Kim Willsher, Jon Henley and Kate Connolly write thatGermany and France are starting to step up their preparations for a no-deal Brexit even though both publicly insist an agreement with the UK over the terms of its departure from the EU can still be achieved.

Farage: “The problem isn’t Brexit, the problem is the prime minister”

“The problem isn’t Brexit, the problem is the prime minister,” the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage tells BBC’s Newsnight. “We may never leave the European Union properly. This is a betrayal of Brexit.”

The vice-president of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness tells Newsnight that the UK “didn’t understand the difficulties and consequences” of Brexit when it had the vote, adding “let’s try and keep some optimism but this could still go wrong.”

BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight)

"It is not my job to say how the UK will escape" the EU transition, Mairead McGuinness, VP of the European Parliament tells #newsnight

Damien Green says the extra year of transition would “solve some problems but not others,” adding that “there are two big problems” with May’s plan. Green says the Irish backstop issue still does not go away and the UK could have to pay the EU an extra year of contributions to the bloc’s budget.

Theresa May has hinted that the UK could extend the Brexit transition period to allow more time for trade talks, but dismayed leaders at a crunch Brussels summit by failing to offer any new ideas to break the impasse over the Irish border, they report.